Metabolic Syndrome And Associated Type 2 Diabetes

Metabolic Syndrome, Associated Type 2 Diabetes and PBI-4050

Some preclinical models used to demonstrate the pharmacological activity of PBI-4050 involve the presence of diabetes, obesity, hypertension leading to an accelerated rate of fibrosis in the liver, kidney and pancreas and premature death. Mice models such as the db/db eNOS-/- mouse model performed at the University of Vanderbilt or db/db uni-nephrectomized mouse model performed at Prometic helped demonstrate that the combined effect of PBI-4050 in reducing fibrosis and macrophage infiltration in fat tissue, in the pancreas, the kidney and the liver not only improved the status of these organs and the survival of the animals compared to control, but also significantly reduced blood glucose level.

Given that the demonstration of fibrosis reduction in humans requires trials with long term exposure, the Corporation initiated a first phase 2 trial in patients who present symptoms like the ones described in the db/db eNOS-/- mouse model: Type 2 diabetes with metabolic syndrome (T2DMS). While this is not a medical indication that the Corporation seeks to ultimately target commercially with PBI-4050, the purpose of this study was to quickly ascertain whether the pharmacological activity observed in preclinical animal models translated to humans. Particular attention was placed on the blood sugar levels in a phase 2 clinical trial given that this effect should be measurable in a manner of 8 to 12 weeks.

Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes:

The International Diabetes Federation estimates that in 2013 there were 300 million diabetics worldwide, and that that number will increase to 600 million by the year 2035. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1 of 3 children born in the U.S. during the year 2000 will develop diabetes during their lifetime.

Development Stage of Prometic’s Research:

This study met its primary and secondary endpoints. In addition to safety and tolerability, the study evaluated the effects of PBI-4050 on metabolic syndrome parameters and on pro-inflammatory/fibrotic and diabetic biomarkers in blood and urine. In this open label Phase 2 clinical trial, PBI-4050 (800 mg) was administered once daily to 24 patients already being treated with “standard of care” drug regimens for a period of 12 weeks. Twelve of these patients were enrolled in an additional 12 week extension throughout which the efficacy and safety observed at 12 weeks was also maintained at 24 weeks PBI-4050 has been well tolerated with no serious drug related adverse events.

The pharmacological activity of PBI-4050 was confirmed through the clinically significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin concentration (“HbA1c”) between screening and Week 12. For instance, the 15 patients with a screening (HbA1c) ≥ 7.5 experienced a clinically significant mean decrease of – 0.75% (p = 0.0004). The 12 patients who participated in the study’s 12-week extension had a mean HbA1c of 7.7 at screening and experienced a reduction of – 0.8% at week 24. These clinical results bode well for PBI-4547 which has demonstrated even more pronounced effects on metabolic parameters in preclinical models compared to PBI-4050.